He had fully decided that it would be folly for him to marry Marion Shaw. She was a rarely devoted, unselfish woman, and a most lovable one; but he knew himself, he said, and if she married him she would do so only to be unhappy in the end. She could not be otherwise, living with him and his mother.
But how was he to withdraw from the delicate situation in which he had foolishly placed himself? There was, he decided, but one way.
For a year, now, Salome Shepard had been making a deep and practical study of the mills and their operation. She had proved a wonderfully apt scholar, her womanly intuition often grasping, in a few minutes, details which he had been months in learning. He doubted if, should occasion require it, she could not run the mills alone. With Villard—honest, faithful soul!—to help her, Burnham felt that there was no longer any need of his services at the Shawsheen Mills. There was another superintendency in a mill at Lowell which stood open to him, whenever he chose to take it. There were some things about it that he would not like; but he must not remain on dangerous ground. He took great credit to himself as he reflected that honor required him not to trifle with Marion’s feelings another day. He virtuously decided to take himself out of her way. Once gone from her she would cease to feel his attraction and forget the tender scenes between them. He would resign his connection with the Shawsheen Mills.
He sat down and wrote the letter of resignation. Then he went to bed and slept. He, like Villard, had kept awake hours for a woman. But he was not the man to conquer his selfish nature, or to grow stronger by fighting himself.
The next morning Salome found Villard alone in the inner office of the mills. A note lay on her desk. It was Burnham’s resignation.
She uttered an exclamation of surprise, and turned to Villard.
“Did you know about this?” she asked, handing him the note.
Villard looked as astonished as though a dynamite bomb had exploded in the mill-yard.
“Not a word,” he said. “But stay, he did hint at something, months ago; but I never gave it a second thought. ‘Decided that he is no longer needed on the works, and an opportunity having offered to better his condition.’ H’m! Those are his reasons? Strange he hadn’t mentioned the matter to me although it was his own business.”